Book buying effort helps Utah author with son's medical bills

David Farland is the author of “Nightingale.” Farland is the pseudonym of Dave Wolverton. His son, Ben Wolverton, was in a longboarding accident earlier this month, and a "book bomb" was successful in raising money to help with some of the medical expenses.

David Farland’s books, including “Nightingale” and “Million-Dollar Outlines,” hit the top of the categories’ best-sellers list — and it was an effort by his fans and others to help with the medical costs of his 16-year-old son, Ben Wolverton.

Wolverton was in a longboarding accident on April 3 near their St. George home and has multiple injuries, including a cracked skull and brain trauma, and was in a coma, according to updates on www.helpwolverton.com.

Because of a pre-existing health condition, Farland can’t get health insurance, according to a news release on PR Web. His wife, Mary Wolverton, did have a job that allowed them to carry group health insurance, but she was laid off during the worst of the recession, according to the news release.

A “book bomb” is where many people buy the same books on the same day and they rise on the best-sellers lists and others see them, too. One was set for Wednesday, April 10, for Farland’s books.

“The book bomb went very well and is one of the most successful book bombs that I've heard,” Farland wrote in an email to the Deseret News. “I thought that it would be cool to sell a thousand copies of ‘Nightingale,’ but I didn't know if we could get that many sales. But we beat my goal by more than 50 percent."

Farland estimates that it’s enough to pay for the initial medical costs, like the helicopter flight, ambulances and the other emergency care.

As of April 18, Ben was able to wake up a little and there are indicators that he is coming out of the coma, according to updates on www.helpwolverton.com.

“We're hoping that with a few months of therapy and some time to heal, he can make a decent recovery,” Farland wrote. “One doctor said that he thought it would take ‘years,’ but I'm more hopeful than that.”